West Virginia – Texas Tech Notebook

West Virginia head coach Neal Brown protests the lack of a pass interference call as referree Reggie Smith listens

West Virginia – Texas Tech Notebook

MORGANTOWN, W. Va. – West Virginia acquired quarterbacks Austin Kendall and Jarret Doege through the transfer portal, Kendall by way of Oklahoma, Doege from Bowling Green.

Texas Tech quarterback Jett Duffey, who started the past two seasons behind Alan Bowman, said the thought of fleeing the Red Raiders’ program has not entered his mind, even despite a coaching change that saw Kliff Kingsbury leave for the Arizona Cardinals and Matt Wells arrive from Utah State in the off-season.

When a reporter mentioned to Duffey that it would have been easy to find a program in need of a quarterback and transfer, Duffey responded, “I don’t like easy.

“I like to compete,” Duffey elaborated. “I’m always going to work hard and do what I need to do to get better. But I love to compete.”

Duffey finished 24 of 34 passing for 354 yards and a touchdown, adding 34 yards rushing on eight carries in a 38-17 win over West Virginia Saturday.

“He continues to be real stingy with the ball,” Texas Tech coach Matt Wells said, “but he’s also being aggressive with the ball.”

Ironically, Duffey’s time as a starter may be coming to an end soon as Wells indicated that Bowman is nearly healed from an injured shoulder he suffered against Arizona on Sept. 14. How soon will Bowman be cleared to play? Wells avoid a specific timeline. Since he did not appear in more than four games, Bowman is eligible to redshirt.

“It’s getting a lot sooner,” Wells said. “We’ll make our decision and he’ll make his own decision and we’ll be there to support it.”

Kendall completed 26 of 43 passes for 355 yards in what has become a one-dimensional offensive attack. WVU ran for just 51 yards on 18 carries for a 2.8 average.

West Virginia quarterback Jarret Doege rollos out to avoid pressure

Doege, who led the Mid-American Conference in passing yardage and touchdowns last year, entered the game late in the third quarter in what seems more like a late-season audition than a bid to become the starter.

Jack Allison, who had been the backup, announced recently he is entering the transfer portal and won’t continue his career at WVU. This week, Doege moved past Trey Lowe to the No. 2 spot on the depth chart.

Doege completed 11 of 17 passes for 119 yards, including a 9-yard scoring toss to Tony Mathis in the fourth quarter.

“He’s got four games (to redshirt),” WVU coach Neal Brown said of Doege. “I just wanted to get him reps. I thought he did some good things. The same things that plagued Jarret are the same things that plagued Austin. We dropped the ball, we didn’t do a great job in protection.

SAM’S THE MAN: Sam James, WVU’s redshirt freshman receiver caught a career-high 14 passes for 223 yards Saturday. His 14 receptions are tied for second in WVU’s single-game history and were the most in a game since Kevin White caught 16 passes at Texas on Nov. 8, 2014. James’ yardage total was good for fourth in program history and the most since Gary Jennings Jr.’s 225-yard performance against Oklahoma on Nov. 23, 2018.

STREAKIN’: Texas Tech’s Douglas Coleman III picked off his FBS-leading eighth interception of the season in the first quarter. The feat also moved him into a tie for second in Texas Tech single-season history alongside John Thompson (1951) and Tracy Saul (1989 and 91). The interception was also the 11th of his career, pushing him into a tie for eighth in program history with Ryan Aycock (2000-03). Coleman, who was the only Power 5 player with more than five interceptions entering the weekend, added six tackles from his spot at safety.

On offense, the Raiders have now scored in 289 straight games, dating back to the 1997 season. That streak ranks ninth nationally and second in the Big 12 Conference.

QUOTABLE: Texas Tech cornerback DaMarcus Fields on playing road games in hostile environments: “Boos is like ‘rahs’ to me.”

West Virginia Notes

West Virginia and Texas Tech met on the football field for the ninth time on Saturday.

The Mountaineers are now 6-3 all-time against the Red Raiders, including 2-2 in Morgantown.

• Redshirt senior wide receiver George Campbell posted the first start of his West Virginia career. In all, 27 Mountaineers have earned their first WVU start this season.

• Redshirt senior offensive lineman Colton McKivitz tallied the 44th start of his career, good for No. 4 all-time in program history.

• Redshirt junior quarterback Austin Kendall finished with 355 pass yards to tally his second 300- yard passing performance of the season. Its also the 47th time WVU has thrown for 300 or more yards since 2012.

• WVU finished with 498 passing yards (No. 5 in program history), marking the 18th time it has registered 400 or more through the air in program history.

• Redshirt freshman wide receiver Sam James caught a career-high 14 passes for 223 yards to
register WVU’s third 100-yard receiving performance of the season and second of his career.

.• James’ 223 receiving yards were the most in a game since Gary Jennings Jr. tallied 225 yards receiving against Oklahoma on Nov. 23, 2018. The total was good for No. 4 in single-game program history.

• Redshirt junior safety Sean Mahone finished with 13 tackles (10 solos) to tally West Virginia’s eighth 10-plus tackle performance of the season. He became the fifth Mountaineer to record 10 or more tackles in a game this season.• Junior quarterback Jarret Doege, redshirt freshman tight end T.J. Banks and freshman running back Tony Mathis made their first career appearance for the Mountaineers. In all, WVU has had 25 first-time players this season.

• Redshirt freshman kicker Casey Legg made a 30-yard field goal in the first quarter, the first of his career.• Senior running back Kennedy McKoy caught a 24-yard pass from redshirt sophomore wide receiver Isaiah Esdale in the second quarter, marking his first receiving touchdown of the year and third of his career.• With the score, McKoy moved into a tie for No. 10 all-time for total touchdowns in program history, with 25 (Jim Braxton, 1968-70)• Esdale recorded his first career pass attempt, completion and touchdown on the play. He became the fifth Mountaineer to throw a pass this season.

• Kendall’s 51-yard completion to James in the second quarter matched the Mountaineers’ second-longest play of the season.

• Mathis caught a 9-yard touchdown pass from Doege in the fourth quarter, marking the first score of his career. It also was Doege’s first touchdown pass in his West Virginia career.